State of Culture in Albania 2025 · Municipal profiles · Artivista Center (Qendra Artivista)
This profile is based on information provided by the Municipality of Himarë in reply to Artivista's request for information on culture (2026), the municipality's medium term budget plans (PBA), and INSTAT's 2023 Population and Housing Census. Amounts are in Albanian lek.
At a glance
| Region (qark) | Vlorë |
| Administrative units | 3: Himarë, Horë-Vranisht, Lukovë |
| Area | 571.94 km² |
| Population, 2023 Census | 8,328 (about 15 residents per km²); 6.5% more than in 2011 |
| Residents aged 65 and over | 34.7% (national average 19.7%) |
| Culture budget | Planned 36,700,000 lek and spent 12,604,679 lek in 2025 |
| Activities, festivals and projects | From 4 in 2020 to 16 in 2025 |
| Staff | 12 to 20, as estimated by the municipality |
| Public consultations | 2 to 3 on culture and heritage in 2024 - 2025 |
Summary
Himarë, on the Ionian coast, is one of the few municipalities in this series whose population grew between the two censuses, by 6.5% to 8,328 residents. It also has one of the oldest populations, with 34.7% of residents aged 65 and over.
The culture budget planned by the municipality grew six times during the period 2020 - 2025, from 5.95 million lek to 36.7 million lek, and the number of activities, festivals and projects it supported rose every year, from 4 to 16. Actual spending, however, stayed far below the plan: between 5.8% and 63.6% of the planned budget was spent each year, and only 34.3% in 2025.
Himarë's reply is one of the most detailed on heritage. It lists, site by site, the restoration of the historic centres of Vuno, Dhërmi and Qeparo i Vjetër, of the castles of Himarë and Porto Palermo and of several churches, funded mainly by the Regional Development Fund, the state budget and the Ministry of Culture. It also reports public consultations on heritage sites and on the General Local Plan.
1. Governance and institutions
Culture is run by a Cultural Centre based in Himarë, which organises festivals, theatre, concerts and exhibitions, manages local ensembles and covers all three administrative units, including Dhërmi and Lukovë. There is also a public library and museum functions managed through the municipality's heritage office. An internal Sector for Tourism, Culture, Youth and Sport coordinates heritage protection with national institutions. The municipality estimates the total staff in these structures at 12 to 20 people.
2. Funding
The planned culture budget rose from 5,950,000 lek in 2020 to 11,370,400 lek in 2021, 12,393,800 lek in 2022, 24,700,000 lek in 2023, 25,900,000 lek in 2024 and 36,700,000 lek in 2025. Actual spending was 344,400 lek in 2020 (5.8% of the plan), 3,864,000 lek in 2021 (34.0%), 7,887,943 lek in 2022 (63.6%), 8,680,000 lek in 2023 (35.1%), 15,548,250 lek in 2024 (60.0%) and 12,604,679 lek in 2025 (34.3%). The gap between plan and spending grew as the plan grew.
The reply also lists culture-related contracts worth about 95.7 million lek, among them a 12-month procurement of artistic and cultural activities for 2026 (49,518,900 lek), the summer season opening of 2026 (9,800,000 lek), summer activities in 2025 (9,983,333 lek), the open-air cinema of 2025 (419,000 lek, 19 bids) and the restoration of the historic centre of Piluri (26,000,000 lek).
3. Cultural programme
The municipality supported 4 activities, festivals and projects in 2020, 6 in 2021, 8 in 2022, 10 in 2023, 14 in 2024 and 16 in 2025. The programme grew from local and heritage events to seasonal festivals, the November celebrations, folk concerts, summer fairs, theatre and children's films. For 2025 the reply names the Himara International Music Festival and “Magji mbi Jon”, the opening of the summer season, together with concerts, food fairs and sports events.
4. Heritage
The reply lists works on more than 20 heritage sites in 2020 - 2025, worth over 1.1 billion lek, mostly funded by the Regional Development Fund (FSHZH), the state budget, the Ministry of Culture and the Regional Directorate of Culture, and only partly by the municipality. The largest are the restoration of the historic centres of Dhërmi (190 million lek in 2020 and 240 million lek in 2024), Vuno (145 and 85 million lek in 2020 and 2021) and Qeparo i Vjetër (110 and 135 million lek in 2022 and 2023, with a final phase of 180 million lek in 2025 - 2026), and works on Himarë Castle and Porto Palermo Castle. A museum in a former school in Vuno, on the area's emigration heritage, is planned for 2026 at 120 million lek. The reply gives these amounts in old lek; they are shown here divided by ten, in today's lek.
5. Planning and public participation
Himarë has no separate culture strategy, but its strategic documents and territorial strategy treat cultural tourism, the castles, churches and historic centres as part of local development. The municipality reports 2 to 3 public consultations on culture and heritage in 2024 - 2025: one in 2024 on the management and visitor plan for Borsh Castle and Spile Cave, and one in 2025 on the revision of the General Local Plan, which includes heritage.
6. Culture across the municipality
Himarë's data is unusually specific about place. Investments are listed by village and site, from Vuno, Dhërmi, Qeparo, Piluri and Kudhës to the two castles, and the Cultural Centre covers all three administrative units. The reply does not, however, give activities by unit.
Conclusions
- The planned culture budget grew from 5.95 million lek in 2020 to 36.7 million lek in 2025.
- Actual spending stayed far below the plan, between 5.8% and 63.6% each year, and 34.3% in 2025.
- Activities, festivals and projects supported by the municipality rose every year, from 4 to 16.
- The reply lists more than 1.1 billion lek of heritage works, mostly funded by national sources, site by site.
- The municipality held consultations on heritage sites and on the General Local Plan, but has no culture strategy.
Recommendations
Plan what can be spent
With a third of the budget spent in 2025, the municipality could set a culture budget closer to what it can implement, and explain each year why planned activities did not take place.
Bring the funding figures together
The reply gives a culture budget, a list of contracts and a list of heritage works, in different units. One yearly table in today's lek, showing the source of each amount, would make the full public effort for culture in Himarë clear.
Plan the use of restored sites
After large investments in the historic centres and castles, a plan for how these sites will be used, managed and opened to residents and visitors would help them stay alive beyond the summer season.
Define the new museum with the community
The museum planned in Vuno could be prepared together with residents and emigrants, who hold much of the area's memory, so that its theme and collection reflect the community.
Prepare a culture strategy
Building on the territorial strategy and the consultations already held, Himarë could adopt a culture strategy that connects heritage, the festival calendar and tourism across the year.
About the data
Population figures come from the INSTAT 2023 Census. Budget, activities, contracts, staff and consultations are as reported by the municipality. The reply gives heritage investments in old lek; they are converted here to today's lek by dividing by ten, and one item listed twice in the reply is counted once.
Every effort has been made to base this analysis on the data provided by the municipality, complemented with data from its Medium Term Budget Programmes (PBA) published online. For comments or questions, please contact artivista@arti-vista.org.
This article was prepared within the CulturAL project, with the financial support of the European Union. Its contents are the sole responsibility of the National Centre for Community Services and Artivista Center and do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union.
